1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an outdoor unit of an air conditioner.
2. Background
An air conditioner is a home appliance used for maintaining indoor air at a desired temperature. For example, an air conditioner may cool or warm indoor air, and/or adjust an indoor humidity level. The air conditioner performs such cooling or heating operations by a refrigeration cycle that performs compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation processes of refrigerant.
Air conditioners may be classified as a split or integrated air conditioner type. The split air condition type has an indoor unit and an outdoor unit that are separated. The integrated air conditioner type has an indoor unit and an outdoor unit that are coupled as a single device. The outdoor unit includes an outdoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat with outdoor air, and the indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat with indoor air.
When the refrigeration cycle performs a cooling operation, the outdoor heat exchanger operates as a condenser, and the indoor heat exchanger operates as an evaporator. Conversely, when the refrigeration cycle performs a heating operation, the indoor heat exchanger operates as a condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger operates as an evaporator.
The outdoor unit of the air conditioner may include a variety of configurations including the outdoor heat exchanger through which refrigerant for heat exchange flows, a compressor for compressing the refrigerant, and a blower fan for a forcible flow of air. The outdoor unit may further include a suction grille through which outside air is introduced into the outdoor unit and a discharge grille through which air heat-exchanged in the outdoor unit is discharged to the outside. The suction grille may be provided at a rear surface of the outdoor unit, the discharge grille may be provided at a front surface of the outdoor unit, and the blower fan may be provided between the suction grille and the discharge grille. As a result, air suctioned through the suction grille is heat-exchanged with refrigerant while passing through the outdoor heat exchanger, and the heat-exchanged air is discharged to the outside through the discharge grille via the blower fan. However, in a case of a general outdoor unit having the above structure, the heat-exchanged hot air is discharged through the front surface of the outdoor unit, which may then be undesirably blown towards pedestrians.
To solve this problem, Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2009-63186 discloses an outdoor unit of an air conditioner having a separate wind direction guide that guides air discharged through the discharge grille to head upward. However, such structure increases wind noise and decreases cooling efficiency.
To solve the above problems, Korean Published Patent Application No. 10-1999-009430 discloses an outdoor unit of an air conditioner having a Sirocco fan inside the outdoor unit, a housing to guide suctioned air upward, and a heat exchanger disposed to surround the housing as well as having a suction grille formed at a front surface and a rear surface thereof and a discharge grille formed at an upper surface thereof, such that the air suctioned through the front and rear surfaces may be discharged upward. In the outdoor unit having the above structure, the discharged air may be discharged upward and the heat-exchanged hot air is discharged upward, thereby not affecting the pedestrians. However, because the suctioning of air occurs through the front and rear surfaces, it is difficult to efficiently utilize space when a plurality of outdoor units are installed and arranged parallel to each other, and heat exchange efficiency is compromised due to the shape and arrangement structure of the heat exchanger.